


Abscission

by lerums



Series: Steve, Tony and their heir [8]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And then they go on vacation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Because this is how it really would have happened, Fluff, Gen, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, In their rich person summer house in the hamptons, It's fluffy angst with a fluffy ending, LET ME TELL YOU, Light Angst, M/M, Peter gets tonsilitis, Peter is about to be in paIN, Sickfic, Superhusbands, are stressing out, if Steve and Tony was a couple with a kid, it will all turn out fine, tonsilitis is a bitch, you bet they have a beach mansion in the hamptons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 14:09:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17899583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lerums/pseuds/lerums
Summary: Peter gets tonsillitis. His dads are there, always. It can very well be read as a standalone, although I advice reading it as part of the series!





	1. Chapter 1

June 15th

 

Peter was thrilled to have endured the entirety of his 8th grade graduation ceremony without getting out of his chair. He suspected it had more to do with his scratchy throat and aching body than himself being able to control his energy, but was proud anyway. The scratching had been present for a couple of days already, but he was going to let his parents know that evening. He thought there might be a rising fever present, so he might as well tell them before they found out on their own.

 

-

 

June 30th

 

Steve was worrying too much again, he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. At peter’s bi-yearly checkup dr. Green had noticed his slight fever and sore throat. By the end of the day, Peter’s condition had gotten worse and it looked like the same kind of throat infection he’d had two weeks prior. They had gotten another prescription for antibiotics. 

 

Also, weirdly, the kid had started snoring lately. And it wasn’t the cute “breathing heavily” kind, it was the loud, annoying kind that penetrated its way through two closed doors and kept them up at night. It was strange, really.

 

-

 

July 22nd

 

Tony was in dr. Green’s office, pacing. It was the same thing all over again, but he hadn’t brought Peter that time. Peter couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed that day, just wanted to sip ice water in his room despite the good weather. They had stayed in their Hamptons house ever since Peter got better, but Tony needed to go to the city for the day anyway.

 

“I’ve already booked him a checkup at Lenox Hill with an ENT specialist, but both him and I suspect the same thing. Very common, super treatable, so there’s no need to worry yet. Having this many infections this often is a typical sign of tonsillitis, inflammation in the tonsils. They’ve been enlarged both times I’ve looked, but that’s what happens with infection. Now, I think the issue might come from the tonsils, but the ENT at Lenox Hill will decide that. _If_ the reoccurring issue is Peter’s tonsils, that’s what we call chronic tonsillitis. There’s a good possibility he can get them surgically removed. But I can’t really say that yet, the hospital decides. I just get the epicrisis when he’s been there, and I’ll do a checkup at a later time.”

 

-

 

July 25th

 

“Hi, Peter, lovely to meet you. Shall we just get to it, let me take a look at your throat?”

 

Peter opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, just like he’d done for dr. Green several times before and then his dads at least two thousand times in the last couple of days. 

 

“Oh, yes. Yeah, there’s no defeating those tonsils with medication only, I’ll tell you that much,” the doctor started, and turned more to Steve who was joining Peter in the hospital that day.

 

“We’ll have to do surgery on those, I’ll book him in right away. But don’t worry, it’s so short and easy it can be done as day surgery on some patients. I looked through his charts, though, and there’s the whole immune system thing. So we’ll most likely do it it the afternoon, that way he can come in early in the morning and we’ll keep him overnight to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected after. This is routine, lots of people get their tonsils taken out.”

 

Steve put an arm around Peter, who was feeling nervous already. He didn’t mention it to his papa, but the tight grip on his shoulder hinted to Peter that Steve was nervous too.

 

“How soon can we get it done, doctor? Any day is okay, we’ll make it work, just as soon as possible, please?”

 

The man leaned in closer to his computer screen, and went silent for a moment.

 

“I’m really sorry, but it looks like august 10th is the next date we have available, someone just canceled their appointment. Next one’s in the middle of september, so I wouldn’t really advice you to say no to this one,”

 

Steve ruffled Peter’s hair. “No, it’s all right. We’ll do birthday before or after, then. Whenever you’re feeling up to it, okay buddy?”

 

-

 

August 10th

 

“What did they say about the Vyvanse for tonight and tomorrow morning, babe?”

 

“Uh… I don’t remember, honestly. Look, we’ll bring it just in case. It’s just a bottle.”

 

Peter leaned forward on the empty kitchen table. “God, with everything you’re bringing ‘just in case’, you’ve doubled the amount of stuff! I’m only staying until tomorrow, I think I’ll survive,”

 

Tony stopped pacing and turned around. “Sorry, Pete. We stressing you out? How’re you feeling?”

 

Peter shrugged. He wasn’t feeling too bad actually. At first he’d been really nervous about the whole surgery thing, he’d never had surgery before. Then he’d done a bit of research on it with Tony and uncle Bruce, so he knew it was going to be just fine. It was a short surgery, only twenty minutes, so he was calm about the whole thing. He was honestly kind of thrilled to be going into an operating room for the first time, and breathing in anesthesia. That was really fascinating.

 

“Okay then, I suppose we’re ready! Fri, will you let Happy know to start the car?” Steve asked, and nodded when the AI confirmed. “Right. I think this might me your weirdest birthday yet, Pete, what do you reckon?”

 

They were piling into the elevator, each of the fathers with a duffel bag and a hand on Peter. To be honest, he thought they were more nervous than him. Tony was going to stay with Peter overnight, but Steve would be staying throughout the day. They were fretting, constantly chattering about everything to remember, checking up on and touching Peter’s face. It was getting to the point where he was more and more annoyed by the second.

 

“Dad, stop! _Stop_ treating me like a baby! Stop with the touching, and asking if I’m fine, and carrying stuff! I’m _fine_ , can’t wait to go to surgery so I won’t be in the same room as you guys!”

 

Tony retracted his hand tangled in Peter’s hair like he was burnt by the outburst, and Steve took a tiny step away. “Right. Sorry. We’re just worried something’s gonna happen, kiddo,”

 

“I know, but nothing’s gonna happen. Just… Just give me some space, all right?”

 

-

 

At eleven am, when they’d already been in the hospital for two hours, Peter was given his hospital gown and hair cover. Tony felt like he wasn’t stressing as much, the doctor and nurses had a calming effect on both him and Steve. It wasn’t often that Peter preferred them to keep their distance, but it had happened a few times through the summer. Peter was going out on his own more often, not always preferring to cuddle up to someone all the time. And that was fine, he was allowed to grow up and change his preferences. But that morning, on Peter’s birthday and the day of his surgery, he had been a lot more opposed to them than usual. 

 

It had hurt a bit when Peter snapped at him, but Tony had decided to keep quiet. Peter seemed so calm and sure of himself. While it pained Tony not to hold his boy, it also made him proud to see Peter maturing. They would all be fine, so both Steve and Tony had kept their distance ever since they reached the hospital. 

 

Tony had to close in to tie the gown on Peter’s back, so he used the moment to rest a light hand on the boy’s shoulder. What surprised Tony was that Peter didn’t stay still, he didn’t tense up, and he didn’t lean carefully into the tough. He turned around and rested his head on Tony’s chest. Tony couldn’t deny jumping a bit, only because he didn’t expect the sudden change of heart. Steve was all of a sudden over by their side as well, only stopping with his hands hovering over his husband and son.

 

Tony’s chin was on top of Peter’s head so he couldn’t see the facial expressions, but his kid’s tight grip on his shirt and slight shivers were enough to understand. When Steve held around them both, making sure Peter’s body was tucked into his side, the boy spoke.

 

“Papa, I don’t wanna do this,” Peter lifted his head slowly to look at them both, and Tony’s heart shattered into a million pieces right there. He felt tears brimming in his eyes mirroring Peter, so he let Steve be the pillar they needed.

 

“We’re here, buddy. We’re right here and if you want us to, we’ll be with you until you go to sleep, and then we’ll be with you long before you wake up,” Peter laid his head on Steve’s chest, letting Tony pull away for a second. Tony suspected he wasn’t the only one in the room who knew about his tears. “And when we’re not there, for like twenty minutes, we’ll be right outside the door. We’re not going anywhere, anytime soon. I promise.”

 

Peter visibly calmed down at that pep-talk, just in time for their nurse to come back. 

 

“Lara, looks like we’re joining you into the OR for a bit, would you care to pick up some extra gowns on the way?” 

 

Tony always felt better when he could fix something, instruct someone, pass on messages, feel of use. He didn’t have any issue with being open with Peter, but if he himself was anxious, he stood no chance of calming his son down. Steve was better at that, pushing his own feelings aside temporarily to deal with his loved ones. As Tony followed the side of Peter’s bed through the hallways he found himself thinking back. Steve’s ability to temporarily put himself on hold hadn’t been so temporary the first ten years or so after coming out of the ice. Luckily, that had changed after the whole accords and Bucky event, resulting in a happier Steve. Tony felt so incredibly lucky to have the partner he had, the life he lived. He-

 

“In this door, gentlemen,” the nurse explained, ripping Tony from his thoughts. Wow, that was one hell of a calming train of thoughts, Tony was once again calm.

 

“Okay Pete, this is it. You’re gonna do so great, I just know it! Remember these are some of the best people in the country, and it’s very minor surgery. We’ve been over the facts, you want to go through them again?”

 

Peter shook his head. He looked so small once again, lying under thin covers in his oversized gown, in the bed placed between huge machines and an assembly of doctors and nurses. It reminded Tony of when they had seen the child for the first time in the hospital, staring up at him with eyes that screamed ‘Pick me up! I’m scared! Hold me! I need you! Keep me safe!’

 

So Tony did again what he did back fourteen years ago, he crouched down on the bed opposite the doctor, and caressed his son’s cheek. “I’m right here, Petey, you’re fine, everything’s going to be fine”


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Peter noticed was how his throat stung like hell. He’d had three infections there the past two months and had colds and the flu many times, so it wasn’t like he was unfamiliar with stinging around his pharynx, but this was next level. His eyes was still shut, so the next thing he recognized was hushed voices and beeping from far away.

 

Then came the sense of touch, everything was uncomfortable. There was pinching on his finger, some weird feeling at the back of his hand. He was lying down on his side, but the bed wasn’t the best. The pain came back, more intruding than last time he felt it. Peter didn’t know why he wasn’t opening his eyes, why he wasn’t sitting up. All he could do was make some kind of weird whining sound and even that hurt his throat like. A. Bitch. 

 

Once he produced the sound and curled in on himself, the voices came to a halt and he felt hands on him. Warm, calming hands in his hair and on his shoulder. They did nothing to stop the pain, though, and it was getting bad. Like someone was constantly pressing knives into his throat and never letting go. Peter himself producing a sob, and his eyes were suddenly burning behind his eyelids. The sound he made hurt, and made him full on cry. Which in turn made everything hurt more, but he didn’t know what else to do. Everything was either hurting or uncomfortable and no one said anything and he didn’t know why he didn’t open his eyes but he wanted to _sleep_ and everything was _hurting_ and-

 

“Peter, bambino? You with us?” 

 

There was a sound. But as soon as he heard the words, they were gone, and he continued to whine, if only to fill the silence and maybe stop the hurt.

 

It sounded like someone else came into the room, and he felt another hand on him. A smaller one, but still warm, still calming. “Does it hurt, Peter?” All he could do was nod, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. “I’m going to give you something for you to sleep a bit longer, all right? You’re not supposed to be up just yet, it’ll be better next time you wake,” 

 

Peter was grabbing whatever his hands could reach, something soft, a fabric of some sort. There was some jostling with something stuck to his hand before he felt himself grow weaker. Even though his eyes were already closed, it was like they were dropping shut, his consciousness was drifting.

 

-

 

The next time Peter woke, he felt clearer. The first thing he did was to open his eyes. The light was blinding for a few seconds, before he adjusted. He saw his dad sleeping on his papa’s shoulder they were sitting right next to him.

 

Steve smiled, reaching a hand forward to stroke Peter’s cheek. It was weird, but it was like the touch activated the rest of his senses all at once. The beeping from another room, the weird pinching on his finger and the smooth but not soft bed sheets were almost overpowered by the intense pain radiating from his throat. He felt tears prickling once again, and looked to Steve for help.

 

“Tony, Tony wake up,” Steve woke his dad to reach forward, and Peter was rolled onto his back. He didn’t know what help that would be, but soon his bed was being raised into more of a sitting position, allowing Peter to look around the room. It was different than the hospital rooms he was used to. Whiter, with more equipment. He didn’t dwell much on it, though, because the pain he felt was taking over. “Pop…” 

 

He didn’t get to say anything else before a straw was urged into his mouth. He _was_ feeling really thirsty when he thought of it, so he drank. 

 

It was ice cold water and so, so good for the pain. It came back once he’d swallowed, but Peter took another sip and it was just as glorious.

 

The straw was removed, and he tried following it with his mouth before being held back by a large hand on his chest.

 

“You’ll get more later, first talk to the nurse here,” Steve said, and he looked around to notice Tony on the foot end of the bed and a nurse he’d never seen before on the opposite side of Steve.

 

“Does your throat hurt, Peter?” He nodded, leaning sideways into Steve who was brushing his hair back. “We have you on a pretty low dose of painkillers when you’re asleep, but we’ll give you what you need now that you’re awake. Now it won’t go away completely, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll get you a popsicle,”

 

Peter looked at the nurse. She was treating him a lot like a child, and he found he didn’t like it. Her look, the pink scrubs with a flowery name tag saying “Lisa”, the way she bent down to him as she spoke. 

 

“Pete,” Tony spoke. “Popsicle’s frozen, which is good for your throat, I promise it’ll be good. Everyone that’s had this surgery gets it,”

 

Peter turned back to the nurse and nodded. He didn’t feel like speaking too much would do him any good. Nonetheless he opened his mouth to speak to his fathers once the nurse had disappeared, but was shut down.

 

“Shh, Petey, save your voice. It’s just gonna hurt more,” Steve’s voice soothed, and Peter leaned into the hand on his shoulder. “Surgery went fine, you’ll probably feel better in the morning they say. It’s actually 6pm, you’ve been asleep for more than six hours, can you believe that?”

 

Peter nodded, he _could_ imagine that. In fact, he was surprised it wasn’t longer. He was so groggy it felt like he’d been asleep for at least a day.

 

When neither Steve nor Tony made any move to make conversation or do something, Peter made grabby hands and pretended to tap on his phone. Tony, who was still at the end of the bed, smiled and reached into his pocket.

 

Peter’s phone was blowing up, and he remembered the other reason that day was special. He peeked up at his dad, who was still just smiling back. “I’m guessing it’s a phone blowing up-day?”

 

Tony was right, Peter’s phone was full of missed calls and messages, and he knew his social media profiles would be full of "happy Birthday" mentions as well. He put the phone down, not wanting to deal with replying to anything just yet. Peter smiled as he got the ice pop, and relaxed in his bed. Steve would be leaving in a short while. Tony took it upon himself to chatter enough for no one else to feel the need to.

 

-

 

Steve was putting the final candle on the cake as Friday alerted him to his family being on the way up from the garage. He hadn’t gone back to the hospital that day, because Peter was being discharged first thing after breakfast. As Peter could only do soft foods for the time being, Steve had decided that the lunch of the day would be ice cream cake.

 

“Honey, we’re hoooomeee!” Tony shouted from the hallway, and Steve heard bags being dumped to the floor.

 

“In the kitchen!”

 

As Peter entered in front of Tony, he gasped at the sight. Ice cream cake was one of the favourites in the household.

 

“Lunch?”

 

Steve was glad he’d finally put a smile on his son’s face. The day before was painful and Peter had preferred resting the entire night, nothing could take his mind off his throat.

 

“Yeah, thought you deserved that, since you didn’t get breakfast in bed yesterday,”

 

Peter smiled and nodded. “Go on, kid, blow them out and make a wish!”

 

-

 

After lunch, Peter had agreed to take an afternoon nap. Well, calling it to agree was stretching it. After countless no’s when they suggested it, Tony had decided they should watch a movie in the master bedroom. As expected, Peter had been out like a light not even twenty minutes into the movie, resulting Tony getting to spend some alone time with his husband.

 

“What’d the doctor say, T?”

 

“Just to give him soups and soft foods for a few days, it’s hard to tell for how long but Peter should decide for himself. It’s really just to soothe the pain, it’ll be sore for a while,”

 

“Just like they said yesterday, then,”

 

“Exactly. At the checkup this morning everything looked fine, it’s healing just right for now. They called dr. Green’s office for us, so he’s going in on monday. I already cleared it with Fri, she says you won’t be able to but I’ll go,”

 

Steve rested against and wrapped his arms around Tony, who was leaning against his shoulder. It was funny, that exact position was so telling for them. They were both resting on and supporting the other at the same time.

 

“I feel like we should go away. An extra vacation before he starts high school. Should we do that?” Tony asked, caressing the small of Steve’s back.

 

“Maybe we just go back to Sag Harbor? I don’t think we really relaxed there yet, you know? With his infections all the time?”

 

“Sure, we’ll keep it simple, we can leave tuesday. I’ll take some time off, play hookie for the rest of it. And _please_ , can we not have any guests this time? It stresses us both, you know that,” Tony begged. He really enjoyed the company of their neighbours at their vacation home, but they always expected gatherings to be so fancy and thought out. Now, Tony loved preparing a good dinner party for their closest friends and so did Steve. But it wasn’t a secret that once they started, they wouldn’t relax before the guests had gone home.

 

Steve chuckled. “Yes, of course babe. I agree, let’s just focus on us. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask, you think we could start couple’s therapy again when we get back?”

 

Tony froze, and pulled back to look up at Steve. They had been on and off in therapy for a while, but it was five whole years since they’d finished last time. “What do you mean, Steve? Is something wrong?”

 

Did he do something? Was it that he’d bought that ridiculously unnecessary car to have in Sag Harbor? Maybe Steve had finally grown tired, that this was just a fake attempt at keeping them together before he could move out? 

 

Steve pulled Tony back into his arms, gentle but determined. “No, babe, I just… Ever since last fall, we’ve… We’ve had a rough year. And you’ve been good, and I’ve been good, but… Honestly, I think we should have gone back sooner, just to make sure the communication is good, and that we take care of ourselves. Make sure we stay good, don’t fall back into old sins. We’ve been focused on him, and on me, and you, and the company, I think we’ve neglected _us_ for a while now and I think you agree,”

 

So Tony gave it a thought, and realized Steve was right. While he thought it was right that their focus was on Peter, he knew they’d quickly fall into toxic habits if they didn’t focus on their relationship too.

 

“Yeah, okay. Sure, we can do that. Maybe you can drop by on monday, on your way from the meeting?”

 

“That’s what I was thinking too,”

 

-

 

The next few days went by quickly, the Stark-Rogers family falling into a routine. Peter spent a little time with Ned and his other friends, but preferred to stay home due to his still sore throat.

 

Four days after Peter got home and the day after his successful doctor’s visit, they were on their way to their summer house in Sag Harbor. 

 

It was truly a haven to relax in. It was private, with its own slot of beach, not too far away from the centre of the town or the marina. The town was small and sweet, and had kept the old fashioned architecture to create a vibe they could only long for, living in the city. Peter had always loved going out there, especially when he could bring friends to spend time with. 

 

The last few years, the family’s activities had changed. Steve and Tony used to walk from playground to playground and spend hours observing Peter having fun by the ocean, but the boy had grown and was currently looking forward to lounging by the pool or taking small walks. There were several families with kids around Peter’s age staying in the neighborhood, which was why they’d chosen the house all those years ago. Peter enjoyed going into town with his so called ‘summer friends’.

 

Steve spent the drive looking out the car windows and watching Peter. They had gathered some family and friends two days before, and Peter had gotten plenty of games and gadgets for his birthday which he’d brought along. The current obsession was a polaroid camera gifted to him from Pepper and Happy. Steve was one hundred percent sure he would spend all the paper before they even reached Sag. They’d have to take a walk into town later, then.

 

Steve had been worried this was another time Peter’s immune system would cause trouble, doing something about the healing time or something. He’d been wrong, Peter was healing up just like anybody else would, and wasn’t in much pain anymore. It left Steve feeling hopeful that they could enjoy the last couple of weeks before school started, and Peter would start a new routine in a new school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you enjoyed, I really appreciate when there's kudos and comments, constructive criticism is welcome :)

**Author's Note:**

> Wowww hey! This is the first chapter of anything that I've posted without the entire work being pre-written?? It's weird?? Because I have just as little idea of what happens next as you do??
> 
> Anyway, leave kudos or comments if you like this! Hopefully I'll be able to complete this within the Oscars tomorrow :)


End file.
